US President Donald Trump said US air strikes on Sunday “totally obliterated” Iran’s main nuclear sites, as Washington joined Israel’s war with Tehran in a flashpoint moment for the Middle East.
Condemning the US attacks as a violation of international law, Iran said it was “resolved to defend Iran’s territory, sovereignty, security and people by all force”. It also responded with a volley of missiles at Israel that wounded scores of people in Tel Aviv.
Also, Iran’s parliament voted to approve the closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz after the US attacked Iran’s nuclear sites, state media reported Sunday.
The decision still requires approval from the Islamic Republic’s Supreme National Security Council. Around one-fifth of the world’s total oil and gas consumption transits through the strait.
The US president had stepped up his rhetoric against Iran since Israel first struck Iran on June 13, repeating his insistence that it could never have a nuclear weapon. Tehran has consistently denied the claim, saying its uranium enrichment programme is for civilian purposes.
Israel had launched wide-scale air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, military sites and private residences, killing top commanders, scientists and hundreds others. Both countries have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes since then.
In a televised address to the nation from the White House earlier in the day, Trump warned that the United States would go after more targets if Iran did not make peace quickly.
“Tonight, I can report to the world that the strikes were a spectacular military success,” said Trump, adding that they targeted the crucial underground nuclear enrichment plant of Fordow along with facilities at Natanz and Isfahan.
“Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,” said Trump.
Trump spoke to Netanyahu after the attacks, while the US also gave Israel a “heads up” before the strikes, a senior White House official told AFP.
Tehran said there were “no signs of contamination” after the US attacks and Saudi regulators said “no radioactive effects were detected” in the Gulf region.
Iranian media confirmed that part of the Fordow plant, as well as the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites, were attacked.
US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth hailed the strikes an “incredible and overwhelming success”, adding that the operation was intended at a regime change in Iran.
“We devastated the Iranian nuclear programme, but it is worth noting that the operation did not target the Iranian troops or people,” Hegseth told a press conference at the Pentagon.
The secretary reiterated Trump’s claims that Iran must never get a nuclear weapon, stating that by employing the president’s policy of “peace through strength”, Iran’s nuclear ambitions were “obliterated”.
Nevertheless, Hegseth said the strikes were not a preamble to plans for regime change in Iran, adding that private messages had been sent to Tehran encouraging them to negotiate.
“This mission was not and has not been about regime change,” Hegseth stated. “The president authorised a precision operation to neutralise the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear programme.”
Describing the complex operation, dubbed “Midnight Hammer”, Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine said the “main strike package comprised” of seven B-2 stealth bombers flying 18 hours from the US mainland to Iran with multiple aerial refuellings.
The US strikes included 14 bunker-buster bombs, more than two dozen submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and over 125 military aircraft, the top general added.